


In Shadows We Lie

by Gabbelina



Category: Super Mario & Related Fandoms, Super Mario Bros. (Video Games)
Genre: Character Death, Child Abuse, Don't Examine This Too Closely, Drabble, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Just Stretching My Fingers, Mature just in case, Shades, Writer's Block
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 18:27:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29282985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gabbelina/pseuds/Gabbelina
Summary: Peach's curiosity gets the better of her and she comes face to face with a living nightmare.Suddenly, this doesn't seem like the best idea.
Relationships: Koopa | Bowser & Peach-hime | Peach Toadstool, Koopa | Bowser/Peach-hime | Peach Toadstool
Kudos: 7





	In Shadows We Lie

_ *Knock knock* _

  
  


“Hello?”

_ “...” _

  
  


The candlelight shimmered on the damp dungeon walls as she stood in front of the iron door… the only door down this corridor.

Surely, the incessant knocking came from here.

“Is someone there?”

_ “...” _

Peach shuffled her bare feet nervously, lifting the flickering flame higher to illuminate the door. There were no windows or holes. No seems in which to peek through to the other side of the mysterious door. 

It was completely sealed.

After a long moment of studious contemplation, she stepped closer to the door and pulled her nightgown sleeves farther down her arms with a shiver.

Balled her right hand, she put on a determined frown and lifted her hand to the door.

_ *tap tap* _

The iron was cold and had a grainy sheen of dust. The door hadn’t been used in so long that Peach’s knuckles left small prints on the door. 

Nothing happened. 

Yet, she had been certain. 

_ *knock …. knock* _

  
  


There!

“Can you hear me? Knock once for yes and twice for no,” Peach said as loudly as she dared. This may be a night of celebration within the Castle, but she didn’t want to blow her chance at quelling her own curiosity. 

“Do you believe me so much a monster as to lack the ability to speak?” a deep sinister voice rumbled from the other side. 

The door didn’t seem nearly as thick now. 

“Um… I guess? I’ve never met a monster before. How should I know?” Peach said defensively.

He scoffed, “Go back to bed, youngling. It is best for children to be ignorant of war until their souls are claimed by it.”

“But… Daddy said the war is over…” Peach frowned.

**_*SLAM*_ **

_ P _ each gasped and fell backward on the stone floors.

“YOUR DADDY’S BLOOD WILL LEAK FROM THE CASTLE SPIRES BEFORE THIS WAR ENDS!” 

Tears of fear and confusion spilled from her eyes and she tumbled to her feet. With one last terrified look at the iron door, she sped down the corridor, back in the direction of the music.

But before she could make it around the first corner, a voice called her name.

“Peach!”

“Daddy!” Peach ran forward and latched herself around his legs. 

_ “ _ What did you do?” her father growled, pulling her from his legs and shaking her. “What was that noise?”

“I-I….I got lost,” Peach cried. “And the man behind the door said your b-blood… and (hic) our family w-would burn…”

Her father stopped shaking her to listen to her as she stammered through her sobs. But to her surprise, he laughed and several other voices laughed behind him. Suddenly, as she wiped her tears with her sleeve, Peach realized there were at least 10 guards and a handful of nobles standing behind her father, each holding unusually bright flashlights in their hands.

“You listen to me and listen well,” her father sneered. “Those wisps of wretched shadow are the salt under our Kingdom’s heel. Their reign of terror ends tonight!!”

The corridor abruptly filled with yells of agreement and blinding lights flashed chaotically. 

“I am ashamed of your weakness and disobedience,” her father growled, taking her shoulder and twisting her back towards the other end of the hall. “Go to bed and never let me find you near this end of the castle again.”

Peach quivered under the scathing eyes of her father as she lowered her head to him and made her way back up the dungeon halls. Only when she made it around the corner did she allow herself to breath. 

In truth, she knew she had been lucky. She only prayed she would be lucky enough for her father to forget to mention this to her mother. 

As she quickly retreated back to her bedroom, she straightened her dress and attempted to soften the frizzy curls in her hair. If anyone in her family found her in such a state, she would surely be reprimanded. 

By the time she had wiped all of the crusty tear tracks off of her face, she had made it to the hallways surrounding the ballrooms. Again, she thanked her lucky stars. Not a soul was in sight. It was odd, but a special event must be being held in some other part of the castle. 

Satisfied with this conclusion, Peach scampered by the food tables that were being cleared by the servant Toads and quietly nicked a strawberry puff from the dessert trays. Sugar was certainly not allowed in her diet, but it wasn’t in a Toad’s nature to tattle, especially on an heiress.

Puff in hand, Peach allowed her steps to slow and her shoulders to droop slightly. 

_ “I am ashamed…” _

The hunger instigated by her prize fizzled away and curdled into sickness. She… she was always a good girl. She hadn’t meant to embarrass her father. She hadn’t meant to be seen. She had only been just as curious as the situation allowed. 

A Shade had been caught for the first time in a century. Only soldiers and veterans knew what shades really looked like and even they could never agree on one caricature. Could her father really blame her curiosity?

After all, Peach had been raised on stories of the Shades. Told they were as terrifying as they were ghastly; said to be the culmination of dead animal corpses that had been cursed by devils and raised to cover the earth in death. They were no better than roaming cattle, led by demons of malice who hid in the shadows of their own creations.

And low, one had been caught… Just under the castle was a creature of nightmares and mystery. 

Under her very feet was the monster her father vowed he’d slay and end the war. Her father, the King of the Mushroom Kingdom.

Lost in thought, Peach pulled the handle of her door and slid into her room. With a look of shameful disappointment, she wrapped the strawberry puff in a hanky from the bathroom and hid it in a small shoebox in the back of her walking closet. 

Tomorrow was sure to be a miserable day when Peach’s mother ultimately found out about her broken rules. That puff would probably be the only silver lining she would get to have for the next several weeks.

**◉ ◉**

Eyes…. There were eyes under her bed… 

Peach opened her eyes, chest heaving deeply as she threw off her blankets and yanked the link on her bedside night light. 

There was no one there. 

But just to be sure, Peach lifted her lamp from the table and cautiously stepped out of her bed. With a quick sweep of her hand, she lifted the fringe that hid the frame of her bed and peered underneath. 

Again, nothing was there.

It was just a dream.

She was just being silly.

Crawling back in bed, Peach sat the lamp back in its proper place and wiggled back under the sheets. 

For some reason, huddling under the covers didn’t seem as safe as it normally would so she decided the nightlight should remain on. 

It was a good 15 minutes before her eyelids began to grow heavy and her thoughts became unfocused. Just before she was about to give in, she saw something shift out of the corner of her eye.

As quick as a heartbeat, a rush of fear gripped every bone in her body. Something had moved outside her window. She knew it. She saw it. 

The moon was out in full force and though her nightlight kept her from seeing much outside her view of the garden, she knew she had seen someone or something walking. Someone or something… How many Shades existed? If one got caught would others follow?

With a persistent gaze, Peach kept her eyes on her window. Only the trees and the bushes swayed in the breeze. 

Then, to her great relief, a very clumsy couple stumbled into view. Peach’s relief quickly turned into disgust as the man pulled down his pants and relieved himself in a bush. The woman hanging on his arm giggling all the while.

Peach chastised herself for being so gullible as she rolled out of bed and began to draw the curtains on her window when something other than the couple caught her attention.

A smaller, round, yet spikey figure that had seemed to skirt around the couple when they weren’t looking. 

When the man had finished his business, he and the woman both became very engrossed in the task of zipping his pants. As both of them became distracted to their overall surroundings, Peach watched as the spiked figure began waddling up to the eastern castle entrance. 

After a moment of pause, Peach bit her lip. Should she tell someone? Her father and mother were both currently fueling the celebration and the servants were prone to panic. 

What were the chances that it was actually a threat? 


End file.
